Insects or Vectors, Other Than Ticks, and Lyme Disease

Supportive of fleas and Lyme disease.

� TITLE:
Investigation of haematophagous arthropods for borreliae--summarized data, 1988-1996.
AUTHORS:
Hubalek Z; Halouzka J; Juricova Z
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
Institute of Landscape Ecology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Brno, Czech Republic. [email protected]
SOURCE:
Folia Parasitol (Praha) 1998;45(1):67-72
"Blood-sucking arthropods, collected in South Moravia, Czech Republic, were examined by darkfield microscopy for borreliae from 1988 to 1996. ...Borreliae were also detected in 8.4% of 142 fleas (Siphonaptera, largely Ctenophthalmus agyrtes Heller and Hystrichopsylla talpae Curtis) collected from small mammals. Twelve isolates of B. burgdorferi sensu lato have been identified to genospecies: ...2 strains from C. agyrtes (B. afzelii), ..."

� TITLE:
Distribution of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato genomic groups in Europe, a review.
AUTHORS:
Hubalek Z; Halouzka J
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
Institute of Landscape Ecology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Brno. [email protected]
SOURCE:
Eur J Epidemiol 1997 Dec;13(8):951-7
"The survey is based on a total of 1263 records (738 isolations and 525 molecular DNA detections) of five Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. genomic groups available from 26 European countries: B. burgdorferi sensu stricto, B. afzelii, B. garinii, B. valaisiana (= VS116) and B. lusitaniae (= PoTiB2). It shows the geographic distribution, the source (...fleas 2 records,...)."

� TITLE:
Apparent incompetence of Dermacentor variabilis (Acari: Ixodidae) and fleas (Insecta: Siphonaptera) as vectors of Borrelia burgdorferi in an Ixodes dammini endemic area of Ontario, Canada.
AUTHORS:
Lindsay LR; Barker IK; Surgeoner GA; McEwen SA; Elliott LA; Kolar J
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
Department of Environmental Biology, Ontario Agriculture College, University of Guelph, Canada.
SOURCE:
J Med Entomol 1991 Sep;28(5):750-3
"...and only 1 of 322 fleas (O. leucopus) removed from white-footed mice was infected. The fact that no unfed adult D. variabilis and only one flea were infected, in a situation where the probability of exposure of hematophagous ectoparasites is moderately high, suggests that this species of tick and the fleas examined are poor vectors for the Lyme disease spirochete."

� TITLE:
Isolation of Borrelia burgdorferi from arthropods collected in Texas.
AUTHORS:
Teltow GJ; Fournier PV; Rawlings JA
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
Microbiological Services Division, Bureau of Laboratories, Texas Department of Health, Austin.
SOURCE:
Am J Trop Med Hyg 1991 May;44(5):469-74
ABSTRACT:
The Texas Department of Health Laboratory cultured arthropods from November 1988 through December 1989 in an attempt to isolate Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiologic agent of Lyme disease. Spirochetes were isolated from eight of 1,093 pools of arthropods cultured. The spirochetal isolates were from several tick and one flea species, including Amblyomma americanum, A. maculatum, Ixodes scapularis, and Ctenocephalides felis. These 8 isolates reacted specifically when treated with monoclonal antibodies to B. burgdorferi. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of six lysates showed them to be virtually identical with strain B31 of B. burgdorferi.

� TITLE:
[Incidence of the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi in arthropods (Arthropoda) and antibodies in vertebrates (Vertebrata)]
AUTHORS:
Pokorny P
SOURCE:
Cesk Epidemiol Mikrobiol Imunol 1989 Jan;38(1):52-60
"Borrelia burgdorferi was found so far in 30 species of Arthropoda, 13 species of mites (Acarina), 15 species of flies(Diptera), two species of fleas (Siphonaptera). The role of insects as vectors was not proved so far."

� TITLE:
Lyme disease.
AUTHORS:
Goldings EA; Jericho J
SOURCE:
Clin Rheum Dis 1986 Aug;12(2):343-67
"Although initially considered a localized epidemic form of arthritis. Lyme disease is now known to have protean manifestation (skin, joint, heart, nervous system) and worldwide distribution. It is caused by infection with the spirochaete Borrelia burgdorferi and is transmitted by a variety of hard ticks and, in some localities, fleas."

Supportive of flies and Lyme disease.

� TITLE:
Ocular lyme disease.
AUTHORS:
Hunt L
SOURCE:
Insight 1996 Jun;21(2):56-7
ABSTRACT:
Lyme disease is reported from all over the United States. Transmitted by deer ticks, mosquitoes, and deer flies, it affects numerous organ systems. All age groups are vulnerable to this disease and must be educated about early signs and symptoms to speed diagnosis and appropriate treatment.

� TITLE:
Lyme disease transmitted by a biting fly [letter]
AUTHORS:
Luger SW
SOURCE:
N Engl J Med 1990 Jun 14;322(24):1752
"[No abstract available.] However, see full-text article at:"
Lyme disease transmitted by a biting fly [letter]

� TITLE:
Ticks and biting insects infected with the etiologic agent of Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi.
AUTHORS:
Magnarelli LA; Anderson JF
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
Department of Entomology, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven 06504.
SOURCE:
J Clin Microbiol 1988 Aug;26(8):1482-6
"Members of 18 species of ticks, mosquitoes, horse flies, and deer flies were collected in southeastern Connecticut and tested by indirect fluorescent-antibody staining methods for Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiologic agent of Lyme disease. ...Prevalence of infection for hematophagous insects ranged from 2.9% of 105 Hybomitra lasiophthalma to 14.3% of seven Hybomitra epistates."

� TITLE:
Epidemiology of borrelia infections in Austria.
AUTHORS:
Stanek G; Flamm H; Groh V; Hirschl A; Kristoferitsch W; Neumann R; Schmutzhard E;
Wewalka G
SOURCE:
Zentralbl Bakteriol Mikrobiol Hyg [A] 1987 Feb;263(3):442-9
"From April 1984 to July 1985 873 cases of Borrelia infections were registered at the Hygiene Institute of the University of Vienna. ...Flying insects from the family tabanidae, i.e. Chrysops caecutiens and Haematopota species, must also be considered as transmitters. ...These results present Austria as an area where tick- or insect-borne Borrelia infections are very frequent and endemic in all Austrian states."

� TITLE:
Lyme arthritis: clinical features, serological, and radiographic findings of cases in Germany.
AUTHORS:
Herzer P; Wilske B; Preac-Mursic V; Schierz G; Schattenkirchner M; Zollner N
SOURCE:
Klin Wochenschr 1986 Mar 3;64(5):206-15
"The clinical manifestations, serological data, and radiographic findings of ten cases of Lyme arthritis in Germany are summarized. ...One of the cases reported provides evidence that the disease was transmitted via a fly bite."

� TITLE:
[Etiologic and epidemiologic questions posed by erythema chronicum migrans and Lyme disease. Apropos of 4 cases at the Regional Hospital Center, Rennes]
AUTHORS:
Doby JM; Chastel C; Couatarmanac'h A; Cousanca C; Chevrant-Breton J; Martin A; Legay B; Guiguen C
SOURCE:
Bull Soc Pathol Exot Filiales 1985;78(4):512-25
"The authors give 4 observations, made in Rennes (France), of 3 cases contracted in France and 1 in Canada, cases they think to be related, for 3 at least, to the infectious entity described by American authors under the name of Lyme disease. ...In only one of the 4 cases, a tick-bite can be asserted, the role in the the transmission of this kind of arthropods being strictly excluded in 2 of the 3 other cases (transmission likely by a mosquito and by a biting fly (tabanid?)). The authors put the question of the possibility of transmission, for erythema chronicum migrans and Lyme disease, by arthropods other than ticks."

Supportive of mites and chiggers and Lyme disease.

� TITLE:
[The neurological syndromes in Lyme disease in children]
AUTHORS:
Badalian LO; Kravchuk LN; Sergovskaia VD; Belousova VS; Minina AP
SOURCE:
Zh Nevropatol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova 1994;94(3):3-6
ABSTRACT:
Clinical characteristics of Lyme disease (LD) course in children have been studied. Altogether 86 patients were examined. Serodiagnosis was made in patients basing on indirect immunofluorescence and enzyme immunoassay with LD agent antigens. Erythema--free forms, combination of mite-borne Borrelia infection with tick-borne encephalitis were detected. Two clinicoimmunological LD variants were verified: seropositive and seronegative mite-borne Borrelia infection with typical clinical manifestations. The disease took a benign course responsive to antibiotics in combined treatment of neuromuscular lesions.

Supportive of mosquitoes and Lyme disease.

� TITLE:
Investigation of haematophagous arthropods for borreliae--summarized data, 1988-1996.
AUTHORS:
Hubalek Z; Halouzka J; Juricova Z
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
Institute of Landscape Ecology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Brno, Czech Republic. [email protected]
SOURCE:
Folia Parasitol (Praha) 1998;45(1):67-72
"Blood-sucking arthropods, collected in South Moravia, Czech Republic, were examined by darkfield microscopy for borreliae from 1988 to 1996. ...Among 3464 female mosquitoes (Culicidae) of 6 species, 4.1% contained spirochaetes: 1.4% of Aedes vexans Meig., 1.3% of A. cantans (Meig.), 2.2% of A. sticticus (Meig.), 2.2% of Culex pipiens pipiens L. and 5.9% of C. p. molestus Forskal. ...Twelve isolates of B. burgdorferi sensu lato have been identified to genospecies: ...1 strain from A. vexans (B. afzelii),..."

� TITLE:
Isolation of the spirochaete Borrelia afzelii from the mosquito Aedes vexans in the Czech Republic.
AUTHORS:
Halouzka J; Postic D; Hubalek Z
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
Institute of Landscape Ecology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.
SOURCE:
Med Vet Entomol 1998 Jan;12(1):103-5
ABSTRACT:
During the years 1993-1995, a total of 3580 culicine mosquitoes of six species were collected in South Moravia, Czech Republic, and examined by dark-field microscopy for the presence of borreliae. Females of Aedes cantans, Ae. sticticus, Ae. vexans, Culex pipiens and Cx pipiens biotype molestus (but not Ae. geniculatus or Culiseta annulata) harboured spirochaetes, the frequencies ranging from 0.7% to 7.8%. One isolate (BR-53) from Ae. vexans was identified as Borrelia afzelii genospecies. The potential role of mosquitoes in the epidemiology of Lyme borreliosis should be investigated.

� TITLE:
[Variations in the occurrence of Borrelia in the tick, Ixodes ricinus (L.) in the Olomouc District]
AUTHORS:
Chmela J
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
Okresni hygienicka stanice, Olomouc.
SOURCE:
Cesk Epidemiol Mikrobiol Imunol 1994 Mar;43(1):32-5
ABSTRACT:
Examinations of 1,998 ticks Ixodes ricinus in the district of Olomouc revealed 182 cases of borrelia, i.e. in 9.1% ticks. Prevalence in males is 10.7%, in females 12.8% and in nymphs 7.0%. A certain coincidence was observed between mosquito incidence, in particular during the first half of the year, and borrelia prevalence in ticks in the course of the following year, with prevalence variations manifested in tick imagos only. A hypothesis is formulated that mosquitos feeding on larger animals, who are often attacked by nymphs of I. ricinus ticks, can increase the infection rate in the hosts by borrelia transmission and thus participate in the increase of tick imago prevalence during subsequent years.

� TITLE:
Ticks and biting insects infected with the etiologic agent of Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi.
AUTHORS:
Magnarelli LA; Anderson JF
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
Department of Entomology, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven 06504.
SOURCE:
J Clin Microbiol 1988 Aug;26(8):1482-6
"Members of 18 species of ticks, mosquitoes, horse flies, and deer flies were collected in southeastern Connecticut and tested by indirect fluorescent-antibody staining methods for Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiologic agent of Lyme disease. ...Groups of 113 field-collected mosquitoes of Aedes canadensis and 43 Aedes stimulans were placed in cages with uninfected Syrian hamsters. Of these, 11 females of both species contained B. burgdorferi and had fed fully or partially from the hamsters. No spirochetes were isolated from the hamsters, but antibodies were produced in one test animal."

� TITLE:
The global distribution of Lyme disease.
AUTHORS:
Schmid GP
SOURCE:
Rev Infect Dis 1985 Jan-Feb;7(1):41-50
"Erythema chronicum migrans (ECM), the skin lesion characteristic of Lyme disease, was first described in Sweden in 1909; subsequently, cases of ECM have been reported from at least 19 countries on three continents. In Europe cases have occurred within the range of Ixodes ricinus ticks, the recognized vector of ECM in Europe, although one case outside this range has been ascribed to mosquito bites."

� TITLE:
The global distribution of Lyme disease.
AUTHORS:
Schmid GP
SOURCE:
Yale J Biol Med 1984 Jul-Aug;57(4):617-8
"Beginning with the original case reported in Sweden, clinical observations suggested that Ixodes ricinus ticks were a vector for ECM in Europe and the distribution of cases in Europe corresponds to the distribution of this tick, although one case outside this range has been reported following mosquito bites."

� TITLE:
Erythema chronicum migrans (Afzelii) associated with mosquito bite.
AUTHORS:
Hard S
SOURCE:
Acta Derm Venereol 1966;46(6):473-6
"[No abstract available.]"

Not supportive of fleas and Lyme disease

� TITLE:
Evaluation of permethrin-impregnated cotton balls as potential nesting material to control ectoparasites of woodrats in California.
AUTHORS:
Leprince DJ; Lane RS
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley 94720-3112, USA.
SOURCE:
J Med Entomol 1996 May;33(3):355-60
"Spirochetes were not detected in 168 adult O. sexdentatus fleas that had fed on spirochetemic woodrats, which demonstrates that this flea is an inefficient host of B. burgdorferi."

� TITLE:
Experimental infection of Columbian black-tailed deer with the Lyme disease spirochete.
AUTHORS:
Lane RS; Berger DM; Casher LE; Burgdorfer W
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
Department of Entomological Sciences, University of California, Berkeley 94720.
SOURCE:
J Wildl Dis 1994 Jan;30(1):20-8
"The course of Borrelia burgdorferi-infection in Columbian black-tailed deer. (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus), its effect on the health of these animals, and their reservoir competence for fleas were evaluated experimentally. ...No spirochetes were detected in 367 fleas (Pulex irritans) that had naturally infested these deer; thus this flea probably is an inefficient host of B. burgdorferi."

Not supportive of spiders and Lyme disease.

� TITLE:
Spiders and Borrelia burgdorferi: no evidence of reservoir occurrence in central Arkansas.
AUTHORS:
Suffridge PJ; Smoller BR; Carrington PR
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
Department of Dermatology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock 72205, USA.
SOURCE:
Int J Dermatol 1999 Apr;38(4):296-7
"BACKGROUND: Although Ixodes ticks are considered the chief vector for Borrelia burgdorferi in the USA, B. burgdorferi has also been identified in mosquitoes, horse flies, and deer flies. We examined the possibility of these organisms being harbored in two species of spider in central Arkansas. ...RESULTS: All 12 spiders from both species were found to be negative for all spirochetes including B. burgdorferi. CONCLUSIONS: Spiders in our sample appeared not to harbor B. burgdorferi. Further studies utilizing larger sample sizes, more sensitive testing measures, or spiders from an area more endemic with B. burgdorferi may further prove or disprove that spiders are capable of harboring this organism."

Miscellaneous or unspecified support of insects other than ticks and Lyme disease.

� TITLE:
Relationship of Borrelia burgdorferi to its arthropod vectors.
AUTHORS:
Burgdorfer W; Anderson JF; Gern L; Lane RS; Piesman J; Spielman A
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Hamilton, MT 59840.
SOURCE:
Scand J Infect Dis Suppl 1991;77:35-40
ABSTRACT:
At the IV International Conference on Lyme Borreliosis, a workshop was held to identify the unique development of the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, in its established and suspected arthropod vectors. The following is a summary of the panel's discussions of research aspects concerning relationship(s) of this borrelia to its vectors, and the mode(s) of its transmission to animal hosts.
MAIN MESH HEADINGS:
Arachnid Vectors/*microbiology
Borrelia burgdorferi/*physiology
Diptera/*microbiology
Insect Vectors/*microbiology
Ticks/*microbiology.

� TITLE:
Vector roles of Fennoscandian mosquitoes attracted to mammals, birds and frogs.
AUTHORS:
Jaenson TG
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
Department of Zoology, Uppsala University, Sweden.
SOURCE:
Med Vet Entomol 1990 Apr;4(2):221-6
"5. Based on these and previously published data the ecological and behavioural potential of the mosquitoes to transmit Sindbis, Inkoo, Tahyna and Batai viruses, tularaemia (caused by Francisella tularensis) and Ixodes-borne borreliosis (caused by Borrelia burgdorferi) in Fennoscandia is discussed."

� TITLE:
Experimental infections of mosquitoes with Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiologic agent of Lyme disease.
AUTHORS:
Magnarelli LA; Freier JE; Anderson JF
SOURCE:
J Infect Dis 1987 Oct;156(4):694-5
"[No abstract available.]"

� TITLE:
The etiologic agent of Lyme disease in deer flies, horse flies, and mosquitoes.
AUTHORS:
Magnarelli LA; Anderson JF; Barbour AG
SOURCE:
J Infect Dis 1986 Aug;154(2):355-8
"[No abstract available.]"

For more information about Lyme disease, see: Lots Of Links On Lyme Disease

Comments or questions concerning this page should be directed to Art Doherty.

Last updated on 29 September 1999 by
Art Doherty
Lompoc, California
[email protected]

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